What a week! I made a new start at the Maggie’s Lanarkshire and it is a joy to write and listen to each other in such a lovely environment. Please come along- we will do a group on the first Tuesday every month (except December 8th).Maggie’s is for anyone and everyone affected by cancer.So if you have a desire to explore the changes that living with cancer brings to you please drop in and try.Or, pop in and book with the Maggie’s staff, tel 01236 771199 email lanarkshire@maggiescentres.org -There’s always a welcome and a cuppa for you – and often cakes!

Then, yesterday 8th October was National Poetry Day see here for my poem I added …

I was lucky to be invited to meet two fellow librarians at Hillhouse Library, to arrange some See Me, Read Me sessions. We will do the first one on remember, remember…the 5th of November see event details here…

It’s been a busy week for me, first I expanded my mental health awareness at the ‘Expeerience Counts’ Development Day on Tuesday in Wishaw . Met lots of people working in mental health across Lanarkshire. We had workshops to talk about the Peer support workers’ role, the Well -Informed service, and the Tools for Life course and related subjects. It was a good learning and networking experience for me. My thanks go to Ann Ronald and the others who made this an interesting morning!

Later, I completed an online course at mindSET discovering the myths and facts of mental health. I was chuffed when I printed out the certificate.Good course.

Wednesday was a meeting with See Me staff, to chat about the anti-stigma work that Wee Read is proposing to do. Thanks to Laetitia for her support. The guidance was really clear that my project needs to be led by at least 50% people with a personal, lived experience of mental illness and recovery. I am glad about this – the roots-up approach is what I have wanted to try for ages.

Thursday, I met local staff at the Lanarkshire Association for Mental Health (LAMH) at their shop and offices on Cadzow Street. Learned that they did have some writers and poets a while ago, and a book was published, called ‘Fine Lines’. I’d like to see a copy, and so would Hugh at LAMH! If anyone out there has a copy, please send it in! Happily, I will be giving them a taster reading and writing session in the near future! Thanks, Hugh!

My plan for Friday is – Read a good book! Some homespun bibliotherapy for me. May even write a poem.

Just started reading 'Germinal 'by Emile Zola, inspired by watching a film about artist Cezanne and Zola, who were friends. Germinal is about mining and poverty. It's written in what Zola called a Naturalistic style, it's very realistic! I skipped the long introduction, but expect to find out more about Zola's life and politics as I read on.Coming from Blantyre, a mining village in Lanarkshire, reading this has made me remember that my dad and two grandfathers were miners, also my step-Grandad, Wattie who helped to bring me up. I had a massive input from him ; he was a communist. The telling of this tale has made me actually go into the mine and scrunch myself into a ball, hunkering down under the walls to chip out some coal.It's fairly harrowing.So, from this,I wrote a poem today:

Buried beneath the earth,without a breath of fresh air,miners coal-tapping.

Fearing the world will fallon their heads suffocatingminers fighting for all.

Squatting; back-breaking work,no other choice for a living.Compressed; lung-black; stuck.

My father and grandfathers sat thereEnduring. Direst of dire.Nae wonder they were dour.

Their only fire, a lamp.no dry places, all were damp.

And, empty of all uplift,-but walking out of there,believing heaven waits.